Sexist gaming moments (that's sexist not sexiest)

[Dr Namgge]

Sorry but maybe its a regional

Okay, why do we female always end up as the sidekick? The majority of games have a female sidekick, where's the male sidekick to the female lead?
Honestly, it doesn't really bother me.

basically what id put it down to is say atleast 90% of gamers are male, the games are going to be targeted more towards men hence they'll have the buff good looking hero guy for you and a spunky, dangerous yet sensual female to accompany you, it just makes more sense marketing wise

I repeat, honestly, it doesn't bother me.
The strange thing is when you have games with strong female leads (Wet is going to be the most up-to-date reference, but I guess all you guys bought it just for the view )

What does annoy me is the whole MOST GAMERS ARE MALE.
WHY are the majority of gamers male?
The worst thing is when they make 'Girl Gamer' magazines that market stupid, badly designed games to the female population because they think we don't want to play a good FPS or RPG, we'd rather play something to do with dancing or cooking, right?
No. Just no.

Sorry but, maybe its a regional thing but out of 20 women i know better....2 are gaming....60% don't like gaming at all...and the rest doesn't give a crap---

...so yeah at the moment MOST GAMERS ARE MALE.

And i also really think its you girls not getting the point across to the males...

...i don't see magazines by female gamers for female gamers, i don't see you set up big gaming communities...i know no girl who has a dedicated server or is producing GOOD vids on their own platform (yeah i saw Rebecca's and little miss gamer and yes i still laugh at Movie Bob, Yatzhee and AVGN not at the girls...).

If you don't think most gamers are male...DO SOMETHING...and do it with some other GIRLS...

mfg, r0qu3


P.S.: And don't get it wrong i would appreciate girls sharing my hobby...cause its hard to maintain a relationship if your partner really hates your hobby...

It's hard to be a female gamer and get noticed- I accept that it's a male dominated interest, but hey, whatever.
I enjoy playing CoD online and being better than all the boys sitting swearing into their headsets, but the sad truth is the majority of women do prefer shopping to sitting down for the evening with a nice game and 20 cans of coke to get you through the night. I have very few friends who're female gamers, the majority of my friends are male, due to this.

The thing that annoys me is when people assume female gamers aren't as good as males.
Doing something? I can't be bothered, because as I've said three times now, I DON'T CARE. I'm happy to be a female gamer who sinks into obscurity among the masses of men.

Surprisingly, it's hard for the female gamers too get boyfriends too, especially if you're competitive- it's a horrifying moment when you realize that the only reason your boyfriend respects you is because you beat him at Guitar Hero.

My girlfriend routinely kicks my ass at Guitar Hero. She plays at expert, I can only just do medium. She's also far better at most multiplayer games we own, and it doesn't bother me, even though I am competitive.

She doesn't care about things like jiggle physics or stripperiffic costumes, but what does annoy her are games like the Imagine series, games that are made purely to appeal to the stereotypical girl who wants to play princesses and wants a pony.

She's also studying a game art course at university, and plans to work in the games industry professionally. Apparently more than half her class are female, so maybe this sexism might change.

 

[epsilon246]

Me personally...I think it's the JRPG cliche of female healers and spellcasters. For the love of GOD!
Sure, it can come down to personality details, but when they make this healer a whiny "I can't do anything else so here's more healing".
Probably not relevant, but I had to get this out sometime...

Tales of Symphonia kicks that trend, one of the girls swings around a battle axe bigger than she is (albeit she's about twelve so not that big). The healer is a woman who (quite literally) kicks ass. the mage is a boy etc. ect.

 

[TheZaius]

Me personally...I think it's the JRPG cliche of female healers and spellcasters. For the love of GOD!
Sure, it can come down to personality details, but when they make this healer a whiny "I can't do anything else so here's more healing".
Probably not relevant, but I had to get this out sometime...

Tales of Symphonia kicks that trend, one of the girls swings around a battle axe bigger than she is (albeit she's about twelve so not that big). The healer is a woman who (quite literally) kicks ass. the mage is a boy etc. ect.

Instead, there's a female character who's constantly apologizing for everything and always tripping over herself so she's a character no one can take seriously. The healer is still that, a healer. In battle, she kicks very little ass but she sure does heal a lot of ass (yeah, sounds weird). The girl with the axe fits another kind of cliche of tiny girl + huge axe/hammer = lots of fun! Granted, she's still a girl who can fight legitimately but at the cost of being yet another cliched character (one of many cliched characters in the game). But I suppose that's an argument for another thread...

There's some other girl in the game you can use. She's got big boobies. I guess she's the token sexy girl with an attitude.

 

[Booze Zombie]

It's hard to differentiate between "female body appreciation" and "sexism".

 

[ChaosDemon]

Sorry to anyone whose already said the following.

There ARE girl gamers around (I'm one, and so are quite a few of my friends) but it does get a bit boring when you're options seem restricted to a muscle bound man or some other typical male playable character.
Although RPGs are very much a love 'em or leave 'em form of gaming, at least most give the option to choose your gender, and to an extent, it doesn't affect the game that much (my personal favourite is Neverwinter Nights and it's extension pack Hoards of the Underdark - there is the occasional gender related change, eg, options for romance, but apart from that gender didn't affect the gameplay OR the storyline.

It seems like a bit of a vicious circle to me. Games are aimed at males because the majority of people playing them are male, so female gamers may be put off by those games. This results in more male gamers than female, which results in mainly games aimed at males... it goes on.

But as for sexist games, the worst candidate?
NINTENDO DS.

 

[ZombieGenesis]

The Game Overthinker did an episode on this (also known as Movie Bob for the Escapist) and came to the conclusion that: YES games are sexist and secondly that nobody seems in a hurry to change that.

 

[Pimppeter2]

I guess Ms Pac-man wearing bow in her hair could be considered sexist. Where do you draw the line?

/facepalm

Defiantly not there

OT: I guess Princes Peach using a frying pan as her weapon in SSBM is pretty sexist

 

[Ammadessi]

It's hard to differentiate between "female body appreciation" and "sexism".

Unless you happen to be one of those "female bodies".

Although the attempted socialization of little girls into "proper female roles" with the Imagine series drives me crazy, I have to step back from what I said earlier on this thread to clarify that boiling down of women into ass and tits is more objectification than sexism.

To be honest, gaming is hardly the only thing that suffers from rampant sexual objectification. Everything from car shows to commercials use women like props as something pretty to look at as if we're analogous to a still life or marble bust. Until advertising and popular culture can see beyond the body and treat women like rounded, complex people, I don't see gaming doing it.

More closely on topic, I'm playing a game called Nostalgia on the DS. In Cairo, you talk to a woman who expresses her befuddlement at the male desire to explore with the phrase "I guess that men will never be understood by women!" Tell me, was that necessary?

 

[Booze Zombie]

Quotey stuff

Can't a woman be sexually attractive without being an attempt to draw men, though?

Like she's an Amazonian Goddess with a backstory similar in length to a novel, has a likeable, human, personality... and clothes.

 

[T3h Merc]

[/quote]

In the words of Yahtzee, most men think girls are: "Dogs you can stick your knob in."[/quote]
That is sexism

 

[Ammadessi]

Quotey stuff

Can't a woman be sexually attractive without being an attempt to draw men, though?

Like she's an Amazonian Goddess with a backstory similar in length to a novel, has a likeable, human, personality... and clothes.

I have no doubt that a woman can be sexually attractive without trying to attract men, I've dated my fair share of them.

However having your heroine wearing pasties and dental floss really isn't endearing me to the idea that she does it because SHE wants to, rather than the graphic designer wanted her to.

I like tits and ass, don't get me wrong! But tits and ass for the sake of tits and ass are simply boring.

I like your idea, a well rounded Amazonian character with a realistic personality. However, to be a true Amazon she'd have to cut off one breast and I can't see that going over well all around.

Edit: I do wonder who the game designers are trying to appeal to, considering that Alex Vance (sp?) seems to be a favorite around here and I don't think that she ever gets naked. I've never played Half-Life 2, so I could be wrong here, but it seems that her appeal is in that she's a well-rounded character, not in her looks.

I think the game designers that make games solely focusing on the female anatomy *cough*X-blades*cough* are selling their audience short.

Oh, and I'm not saying a woman has to wear a burka to be taken seriously, god no. But if your female character is going to be running around half-naked for the game, try to give her a personality that trumps her nudity in the list of things that gamers like about the character.

 

[Booze Zombie]

Quotey stuff

Mutilation past scars isn't popular anyway... not trying to be clever, just saying.

 

[Ammadessi]

Quotey stuff

Mutilation past scars isn't popular anyway... not trying to be clever, just saying.

That's the thing though. Everything on this hypothetical female character wouldn't be done so she does, or doesn't seem attractive. I'm looking at historical accuracy here, not whether or not the character is fun to look at.

 

[Booze Zombie]

That's the thing though. Everything on this hypothetical female character wouldn't be done so she does, or doesn't seem attractive. I'm looking at historical accuracy here, not whether or not the character is fun to look at.

Well, cutting body parts off is unpleasant on a character of any gender...
But, I get your point.

I really meant Amazonian like race, not like she's a man hater, by the way.

 

[ArcWinter]

Nowadays you kids are way too sensitive to sexism or racist or whatnot... every small thing is offensive. If it's offensive, ignore it. If you yourself are offensive, enjoy it.

Simple. I've never really had any sexist moments myself, because nobody has made Beat Your Wife 3D for the Wii. Now that would be sexist!

 

[Ammadessi]

That's the thing though. Everything on this hypothetical female character wouldn't be done so she does, or doesn't seem attractive. I'm looking at historical accuracy here, not whether or not the character is fun to look at.

Well, cutting body parts off is unpleasant on a character of any gender...
But, I get your point.

I really meant Amazonian like race, not like she's a man hater, by the way.

I know what you meant. My only insistence on the mutilation is because the word Amazon does come from the greek a-mazos, meaning "without breast". They weren't typically depicted in art having done though.

 

[Rainmyst]

Aion:

Women are clad in butt-high low-cut outfits for melee (no scarring or cold?) and fight in heels (Charlie's Angels anyone?). Some of the quest language assumes you are a male.

WoW:

Some of the female dances and clothing and body types are quite sexualized as compared to the men, but at least the women can wear armor and kick butt as well as the men.